EV Beetle Conversion Project

I picked up a front gearbox from a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, with both the motor and generator attached. The motor and generator are pretty similar, the generator has an extra thermistor for temperature measurement but I think they're both apparently capable of 60KW. I got hold of this from Ebay before I'd decided on a car to have a go at converting. The motor units are made by  Meiden, they contain a  Tamagawa resolver  and appear to have 4 pole pairs and weigh in at around 30kg each. The output shaft is 19mm with 17 splines, it's a very close match to some Ford clutches. The gearbox and motors was delivered on a pallet, it's easy over 100kg as a single unit. Front Gear Box Engine connection here 3 phase connections Stator Rotor Stator Resolver

On the Beetle the power steering pump is powered from the accessory belt of the engine, with this gone there's no power steering. Fortunately, there's a simple and cheap (also some what loud) solution to this. The electric power steering pump used in Vauxhall Zafira and probably many others. It's a TRW unit, has an internal control unit, so is wired directly to 12v via a hefty 80 amp fuse and ground. There's 3 other wires, the thin black one should be connected to a ignition on 12v and the thin blue and white should be 12v shortly after, usually this is connected to the alternator output, so I've connected this to the old fuel pump relay which I'll be using for 12v after the key has been turned to the 'start' position briefly. I made a little cradle for it to sit in and tried to have it tucked out of the way. I needed to have a new hose made for the high pressure side of the pump.

 The long day, removing the engine. Having never tackled an engine removal, this wasn't too bad. Look for electrical connectors connected and unplug them, remove the air intake hoses and coolant. I'd previously had a mobile air conditioning company come and evacuate the refrigerant. Releasing this in to the atmosphere isn't good, and is also illegal in the UK and likely many other countries. The cost of this was £40. This was a long, tiring day. The engine was supported from above as the mounts were removed, the engine then lowered to the ground and the front of the car lifted up and over it. I started to get tried and frustrated with trying to get the wiring plugs all disconnected and was running out of daylight, so I did cut a few. The engine was strapped to a pallet and shipped to Birmingham to go in anther car, and the starter motor also sold on. I could have got more for engine and if I'd removed the power steering pump, alternator and AC compressor and sold separa

 So, having never driven the car, I began to remove parts of it. I'd posted to a Facebook group that I would be pulling the engine and that all combustion related parts would be for sale, I had someone wanting the catalytic converter and another the fuel pump. Let's get those removed and start getting the outlay for the car down further. I needed to get the car up fairly high to try wiggle the cat out having tried for hours and struggling to manoeuvre the exhaust manifold and cat out in one, so the buyer was OK with them being cut. As I was having to post, this was a bonus, making the overall postage cost lower. From memory I got £50 for the cat, unfortunately it wasn't an OEM VW unit but a Chinese aftermarket. The fuel sender unit went for £20 IIRC. So we're down to ~£240 for the car after postage for the cat.